Oxford Union and the colonial comeback

Posters advertising a “colonial comeback” cocktail depicting the shackled hands of a black slave have been condemned as racist after appearing at Oxford University Union’s bar.

Now the union’s BME (black and minority ethnic) officer has resigned over the issue, telling student newspaper the Cherwell: “I want nothing to do with them at all. I’m disgusted. Racism is definitely not dead.”

The posters coincided with a debate on whether Britain should pay reparations to its former colonies. The union claims to be home to “Britain’s most famous debating society”, and the bar comes up with a new cocktail for each event.

History finalist Risham Nadeem, 21, told the Standard her first reaction to the poster was “disbelief”.

“It’s completely inappropriate,” she said. “A lot of people are really, really horrified at the inclusion of the photo which very straight up implies slavery. There’s a real issue with using those two things together.